[AT] trailer lights

[Easley, Greg]

Lots of good advice all around.  Thanks guys.  Here's what I'm dealing
with: 30 year old FFA project gooseneck, never been kept in the dry,
plenty of rust in all the normal places.  '93 one ton Dodge truck that
also has plenty of rust in all the normal places.  6-way round trailer
connection.  4" flush-mount rear lights that ground to the trailer frame
via a metal strap from the lamp base to one mounting hole in the light
housing, which is where the problem lies in this instance.  It's
impossible
to keep those ground connections from corroding.

I bought enough jacketed 14-6 trailer wire over the lunch hour to
replace
everything from the lights to the truck plug.  The 6-way round connector
has a ground, so I'll be able to eliminate the trailer frame from the
circuit.  A ground lead connected directly to the lights via a ring
terminal
under the screw head should be a much more reliable connection.

I did find some flush mount lights that mount into the trailer frame in
a
big rubber grommet that had a ground wire in the connector plug,
unfortunately
I can't use those - the guys who built the trailer cut the mounting
holes for
the lights with a torch.  Not exactly a precision manufacturing
technique.

If worse comes to worse I'll bend some guards out of 3/16 mild steel,
weld
them to the trailer frame and switch to stud-mounted lights.

Thanks again,

Greg
http://www.geocities.com/heartland/woods/1416